Fairmount Boulevard Historic Districts

During this audio tour—slightly more than one hour but potentially shorter if you turn around at Coventry—you will walk one of the Cleveland area’s most iconic streets. Often referred to as the Millionaires’ Row of Cleveland’s eastern suburbs, Fairmount Boulevard—from its intersection with Cedar Road on the west to Wellington Road on the east—is an architectural treasure trove. The walk’s entire length is on the National Register of Historic Places.

So let’s go. Your starting point is 2485 Fairmount Boulevard, directly across the street from the driveway by Luna Bakery near where Fairmount and Cedar intersect. You should be on the north side of the street—across from Luna. You’ll be continuing east on that same side of the street. When we get near Wellington Road—or Coventry, if you want a shorter tour—you’ll cross the street and return down Fairmount’s south side.

We hope you enjoy this installment of Cleveland Walks.

Euclid Golf Historic District (South side of Fairmount Blvd.)

2485 Fairmount Boulevard

Barton Deming launched the Euclid Golf development in 1913. He built this grand home the next year. In addition to functioning as his private residence, the house was also a great PR move: an impressive introduction to the neighborhood. This photo was taken in 1919.

The Saint Paul’s congregation is far older than the beautiful 1928 structure you see before you. A small brick church in the Gothic Revival style was built in 1858 at Euclid Avenue and what is now East 4th Street. The congregation’s next building was erected in 1876 at East 40th Street and Euclid Avenue—on Millionaires’ Row at the same intersection where John D. Rockefeller lived with his family.

Shaker Farms Historic District (North side of Fairmount Blvd.)

2757 Fairmount Boulevard (Fairmount Presbyterian Church)

Although it is in excellent shape, Fairmount Presbyterian Church looks a great deal older than it really is. In the early decades of the 20th Century, various small houses of worship stood on these grounds, but this magnificent Tudor-style structure was not completed until 1941. It is a stunning introduction to the Shaker Farms Historic District, which comprises more than a half-dozen streets to the east (including Fairmount Boulevard through to Wellington Road).

This amazing Beaux-Arts home sold for $350,000 (including furnishings)—in 1917!!! Known as the Tremaine-Gallagher house, it may be the only structure associated in three different contexts with the National Register of Historic Places. First, the house itself has been on the Register for several decades. Second, Fairmount Boulevard from Cedar Hill to Wellington Road is on the National Register. Third, the home is part of the Shaker Farms Historic District, which was placed on the National Resister several years ago.

Shaker Farms Historic District (South side of Fairmount Blvd.)

If Bilbo Baggins were six feet tall, he would feel right at home in this humungous “cottage.” Carefully restored by its current owners, the 9,000-square-foot home was designed (ironically) by architect Phillip “Small.” It is the only Fairmount Boulevard home designed by Small, who architected many grand homes in Shaker Heights.

Euclid Golf Historic District (South side of Fairmount Blvd.)

This Tudor Revival home makes a dramatic statement in two directions: facing Fairmount Boulevard or St. James Parkway. It was built for Hoyt Landon Warner, a partner in W. H. Warner Co., a coal company. Given how pristine the entire area is, it is somewhat ironic that numerous Fairmount Boulevard homes were built for executives of coal companies. The air would not have been nearly so clean in 1924, when the home was built!

The last stop on this tour puts us in front of a home designed by one of Cleveland’s most iconic architects: Charles Schweinfurth. Although he had only one other Cleveland Heights commission (the Briggs estate on East Overlook Road), Schweinfurth designed at least 15 Millionaires’ Row mansions (think Chisholm, Mather, Everett, Devereaux), all of which have been lost to history.